OCC Sustainability

Sustainability Efforts

• Energy

  With the help of a local bond measure, 2016 saw OCC install a 2,460-panel photovoltaic solar array with a capacity of about 1 MW, which to date, has generated over 3 GWh of electricity.  The greenhouse gas emissions offset by our generation is the equivalent of taking 478 cars off other road or powering 252 homes for a year.  2021 saw the completion of a 3 MW expansion to the existing panels with a battery storage system, ensuring OCC clean energy to use day or night!

  California Proposition 39, the Clean Energy Jobs Act, also allocated revenue for California educational institutions to use for energy efficiency projects.  OCC secured funds from Prop 39 to retrofit the campus's lamps and ballast posts, saving the college over $80,000 a year in energy efficiency and earning the college the Board of Governors Energy and Sustainability Award in 2017.

  Finally, the college currently has installed a state-of-the-art energy tracking system that allows the Maintenance and Operations department to track the current temperature reading of nearly all the rooms on campus. Allowing them to save energy when rooms are not in use and find problem areas that need to be addressed.

  As the campus continues to grow, a proactive approach will be taken to address the college's energy footprint.  With the campus's 2020 Vision, five new Cal Green Standards compliant buildings will be constructed, including one LEED Certified!

   

• Water

  In the heart of Southern California, water efficiency is a way of life.  OCC has a California native garden outside its Chemistry building, comprised of drought resistant landscaping.  Not only do these plants require less water and create less waste, but they are watered using the LEED and Rain Bird Direct Plant-to-Root watering systems, using 30-50% less water than conventional sprinkler systems, eliminating overspray and runoff.  The Centralized Control System for OCC's landscaping saves 25-45% more water a year than common timer-operated systems.  

  More than 90% of all vegetation on campus is watered with recycled water. The campus utilizes a stormwater catch basin roughly the size of two swimming pools, located underneath the Recycling Center, alongside a stormwater pump.  A bioswale, used for cleaning stormwater runoff and recharging groundwater, is located just behind the Ronnenberg Center for Environmental Sustainability.  

  All toilets and urinals on campus use less water than average facilities; toilets use .1 gallons per cycle while the average uses 3 gallons, and urinals use 1 pint of water while the average use 1 gallon.  In the future, OCC plans on planting more low maintenance, drought resistant, native plants to reduce the need for watering and there are plans to fully utilize the bioswale with native plants as an educational garden for visiting students.  

• Transportation

  The OCC campus is very close to residential neighborhoods and essential amenities. Students can easily find places to eat, run errands or places to study within walking distance. There are many bus stops on the borders of campus that go anywhere from Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Fullerton, or Newport so students and faculty can easily use transit to get to and from school.

  Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) provides students enrolled in Orange County community colleges with unlimited travel on OCTA’s routes through a low cost College Pass program priced at $1.50 per day. OCTA bus stops are located on Fairview Road and Adams Avenue, which are both at the campus periphery.

  
  OCC puts an emphasis on sustainable travel, primarily in the form of biking. Additional Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis showed that 8,150 students, fully a third of enrollment, live within a 15 minute bicycle ride. An additional 8,481 or 67% of students live within a 30 minute ride. To promote biking, there are bike paths surrounding the school, 31 bike racks located on campus, and several free-to-use bicycle repair stations with tools and manual air pumps. In the future, OCC, as well as the city of Costa Mesa, plan on
  creating safer more efficient bike paths around the city and campus. Also available at several areas around campus are locking stations for skateboards and scooters.

  For those who drive to school, the campus also offers preferred parking for energy efficient cars and 8 charging stations to promote sustainable transport. 

  
  Future plans of promoting more sustainable means of transportation include implementing a bike share program, a student-driven bicycle repair garage, and free OCTA public transportation initiatives.  

• Waste

  OCC recycles around 800 tons of processes 22.5 tons of green waste annually.  Coffee cups, utensils, and dinnerware at campus-run coffee carts and cafeterias are all compostable or recyclable.  OCC's surplus equipment program assesses used furniture, electronics, and other equipment for reuse, resale, and recycling value to utilize highest and best use before landfill.  The Reusable Office Supply Exchange (ROSE) Program redistributes office and school supplies to both faculty and students.  Recycling bins are located throughout campus for bottles and cans, and there are several water bottle refilling stations to encourage reusable bottles and reduce the amount of waste generated.  

  OCC's Recycling Center is available to the student body as well as surrounding community. Aluminum cans, plastic bottles, computers, paper, and cardboard are just some of the materials collected for recycling.  The Recycling Center attempts to send materials to domestic recycling plants when available to avoid the thousands-mile-long journey to be recycled overseas.  Proceeds from the Recycling Center go to support student programs and scholarships.  The Recycling Center facility also features informational signage that educates the community about proper recycling methods.  The OCC Recycling Center, in addition to being the oldest college recycling program in the United States, also has the honor of being the first facility in the world certified LEED (gold), SITES (gold), and TRUE Zero Waste (Platinum) from the United States Green Building Council.  

   

• Social Equity

  Food insecurity is a stark reality for college students across the nation. According to a 2016 report which surveyed 3,765 students in 12 states attending eight community colleges and 26 four-year colleges and universities, 48% of respondents lack access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food. This problem is often conjunct with homelessness. Students who face this struggle generally lack enough resources to get through the demands of a college education, and suffer lower grades as well as increased dropout rates. One of the growing national strategies to combat student hunger and homelessness is the implementation of robust college food pantries. OCC has taken initiative, offering its students access to quality packaged food, fresh food items, and connections to organizations which offer relief and aid through the Pirates’ Cove Food Pantry.

  The OCC Food Riders Club consists of students and community members who recover perishable foods from OCC’s cafeteria to donate towards hunger relief. Twice a week, they meet up to safely handle and package hundreds of pounds of fresh food that would otherwise be thrown away. After collection, they immediately deliver this food to local food banks. Using bicycles and bike trailers to reach their destination, the Food Riders promote healthy activity, reduction of carbon emissions, diversion of food waste from landfills, and community outreach. According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, 41.2 million people in America lived in food-insecure households during 2016. These numbers are reflected in communities right here in Orange County.

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  The OCC Food Riders aim to alleviate this hunger crisis immediately; through weekly food deliveries (twice a week), and long term; spreading awareness and educational material to promote similar groups across the country. Since fall of 2016, they’ve recovered 2249 pounds of perishable food. They plan to continue their efforts and hope that the rest of the world will follow their example.

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  Formerly known as the BOG Fee Waiver, the California College Promise Grant is available to OCC students saving them hundreds of dollars in enrollment expenses. The grant is applied exclusively toward enrollment fees, and does not cover health fees, parking permits, college service fees, or academic materials costs. The college promotes financial aid and makes a concerted effort to get all students to apply for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) through workshops and regular electronic announcements.

   

• Curriculum
  OCC offers its students a number of green-energy and sustainability pathways. Through the Architectural Technology Department, an Environmental Resource Management Certificate can be earned by completing four requisite environmental sustainability and advocacy courses as well as an environmental studies practicum. The program places an emphasis on current issues in sustainability as well as practical resource management. The program aims to develop students who are skilled at research, communication and coordination of effective sustainability initiatives to reduce harmful impacts on the environment. The college additionally offers courses in Photovoltaic Installation where students are able to gain hands on experience installing solar panels in a variety of ways. This includes: ground mount installation, roof installation and off-grid installations. This program allows students to gain the experience needed to get a “Green Collar” job.